By Jay Lehr

The theory that human activities are adversely affecting the global climate has attracted many supporters — not because of the soundness of the science, which few people are competent to judge, but because acting to stop this supposed threat would benefit their particular interests.

By Dr. Marvin J. Folkertsma

The new Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 24 approved a non-binding resolution on the Iraq war that demonstrated the cowardice, lack of wisdom and political posturing of the senators who voted for it.

By Rey Thomas

Late last year, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker warned that his fighting force was on the verge of breaking down unless thousands more active duty members were added. He also detailed the necessity for the increased use of reserve soldiers. “Over the last five years, the sustained strategic demand is placing a strain on the Army’s all-volunteer force,” Schoomaker told The Commission on the National Guard and Reserves in a Capitol Hill hearing. “At this pace we will break the active component.”

By Dr. L. John Van Til

Last fall I visited Dearborn, Mich., to attend a high school class reunion. I arrived early enough to drive around my old neighborhood. To my surprise, it had become almost totally an Arab population. Every business I passed displayed Arab-English signs, and on the front lawn of one of Dearborn’s public schools was a 5-by-7 foot “Peaceful Ramadan” sign. Apparently, the Supreme Court’s rules about religious symbols on public school property are not honored in Dearborn. It would be interesting to know why.

By Dr. John A. Sparks

Editor’s note: The Episcopal congregation in Peachtree City, St. Andrew’s in the Pines, this month voted to withdraw from the national church governing body and to affiliate itself with a Nigerian Episcopal group.

OPINION — Point-Counterpoint

[Editor’s note: The following three letters from a mayor, an ex-mayor and a county commissioner lay out varying positions on the growth of Peachtree City, annexation and the TDK Boulevard Extension into Coweta County. We present them here as a point-counterpoint informational forum.]

By MAYOR HAROLD LOGSDON

Cal: Thank you for the thoughtful and thought-provoking column on dreamers and dreams in last week’s Citizen. I hope every resident of Peachtree City takes the time to read it because it gives some outstanding perspective on Peachtree City’s history when it comes to growth.

By James M. Taylor

It is very difficult to read a news article or watch a newscast regarding global warming without encountering an assertion that “the debate is over” — that all, or virtually all, scientists agree humans are causing a dramatic and harmful change in the Earth’s climate.

By Doug Bandow

Saddam Hussein richly deserved his execution, but Iraq is no less a strategic disaster for America because of it. It will be years, if not decades, until the world overcomes all of the consequences of George W. Bush’s misbegotten war.

By Dr. Marvin Folkertsma

Poor ISG! While its members completed their parade across assorted political platforms during the last month of 2006, their pontifications died faster than a flock of houseflies on a sun-baked window ledge, and with about as much dignity. It’s not hard to see why.

By L. John Van Til, Ph.D.

Americans joyfully celebrated the just ended holiday season in a variety of ways while tolerating one another’s religious and non-religious traditions. During the rest of the year, many Americans practice a new kind of tolerance that differs from the country’s historical roots.

By Dr. Gary Scott Smith

[There is] massive confusion in the United States today about the meaning of the phrase “the separation of church and state.” Many liberals contend the concept requires that religion be completely divorced from government, while countless conservatives counter that the founders simply wanted to prevent the establishment of a national church.

By RANDY GADDO

A U.S. soldier was killed in Iraq on Christmas Day, the TV newscaster said, almost casually, as she moved on to other headlines of the day.

By John W. Whitehead

When I was a child in the 1950s, the magic of Christmas was promoted in the schools. We sang Christmas carols in the classroom. There were cutouts of the Nativity scene on the bulletin board, along with the smiling, chubby face of Santa and Rudolph. We were all acutely aware that Christmas was more than a season to receive — it was a special time to give as well.

While Americans battle crowds at shopping malls in their quest for a merry and plentiful Christmas, many of our nation’s military families — about half of whom reportedly have children — are struggling just to put food on the table.

By WARREN THROCKMORTON

Eat right. Wear seatbelts. Avoid cigarettes. Use sunscreen.

Yearly, thousands of college kids hear this wisdom from their university health services and wellness professors.

By Dr. Paul Kengor

Editor’s Note: The “V&V Q&A” is a monthly e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City (Penn.) College. This month’s “V&V Q&A” features an interview by Dr. Paul Kengor, executive director of The Center for Vision & Values, with Dr. Gary Scott Smith. Dr. Smith is a Fellow for Faith and the Presidency with The Center for Vision & Values, chairs the History Department, and coordinates the Humanities Core at Grove City College. His latest book is “Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush” (Oxford University Press, 2006).

Once upon a time, the motto emblazoned on police cars was “To Protect and Serve.” However, as police forces are transformed into pseudo-SWAT teams, complete with riot gear and a take-no-prisoners attitude, the fear that cops are overstepping their limits is on the rise.

By Lee Wishing

Many Americans participated in consumerism-gone-wild sales during the Thanksgiving holiday. Should we be thankful for this retail madness these sales generate?

By DENNIS CHASE

October is the month when state-wide cleanup efforts takes place, and this year the Line Creek Association of Fayette County helped organize four such events here in Fayette County.

By BENITA DODD

The Governor’s Energy Policy Council took its draft energy strategy on a five-city tour of Georgia last month. With federal projections estimating the nation’s electricity use will increase 50 percent between 2004 and 2030, the strategy that the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority is developing is crucial to Georgia’s future and deserves the input of all its citizens.

By JOHN W. WHITEHEAD

There is a war raging in America, and it may be the most important war we will fight in the coming years. But it’s not a war against terrorism, drugs or AIDS. It’s a war against free speech, primarily religious free speech.

By HAROLD BROWN

Projections of metro Atlanta’s deteriorating water quality are many and presumptive, usually with warnings of looming problems exploited as leverage for some cause or project.

By Gary S. Smith, Ph.D.

At the midterm elections, it is a good time to discuss the political use of religion. Many have linked Republicans’ electoral success in 2000 and 2004 to their ability to appeal to the values of religious voters.

By James Frogue

Are Georgians getting measurably healthier? Is this progress being made in a manner that is fiscally sustainable? These are the first and second questions that we must continually ask ourselves. Any policy that is achieving these goals must be supported and/or expanded. Any policy failing to offer measurable results must be immediately discarded.

By JOHN W. WHITEHEAD

A culture of meanness has come to characterize many aspects of the nation’s governmental and social policies. “Meanness today is a state of mind,” writes Nicholas Mills in his book, “The Triumph of Meanness,” “the product of a culture of spite and cruelty that has had an enormous impact on us.” But until it happens to us, it is easy to close our eyes and go on with our everyday lives.

By RANDY GADDO

There is an article in the September issue of The American Legion magazine written by Debra Burlingame, sister of Captain Charles F. Burlingame III, pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed at the Pentagon Sept. 11, 2001. She is now the director of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation.

By Robert W. Poole Jr.

Every year the Texas Transportation Institute’s Urban Mobility Report has a little section that shows, with real numbers, that those urban areas which came the closest to keeping highway capacity growing in pace with vehicle miles traveled (VMT) had the smallest increases in congestion.

By DENNIS CHASE

Over the years, I have been involved with a wide variety of controversial environmental issues. A lot of those issues were not settled in favor of the environment. Occasionally there were some positive results and, all things in perspective, I understand that is how the system works. But recently, what began as a potential chemical spill quickly became a reality check of what government can do to their citizens.

By FERRELL MOWELL

The following is a journal entry made immediately following the transportation of the original Mowell Funeral Home from 180 Jeff Davis Drive to an office park at the corner of Ga. Highway 85 and Beauregard Boulevard, one town-block south of the [old Fayette County] Courthouse.